e-infrastructure Roadmap for Open Science in Agriculture

A bibliometric study

The e-ROSA project seeks to build a shared vision of a future sustainable e-infrastructure for research
and education in agriculture in order to promote Open Science in this field and as such contribute to
addressing related societal challenges. In order to achieve this goal, e-ROSA’s first objective is to bring
together the relevant scientific communities and stakeholders and engage them in the process of coelaboration
of an ambitious, practical roadmap that provides the basis for the design and
implementation of such an e-infrastructure in the years to come.

This website highlights the results of a bibliometric analysis conducted at a global scale in order to identify key scientists and associated research performing organisations (e.g. public research institutes, universities, Research & Development departments of private companies) that work in the field of agricultural data sources and services. If you have any comment or feedback on the bibliometric study, please use the online form.

Major advances in teaching dairy production

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Abstract

A survey of 38 universities that grant 4-yr degrees as well as 12 institutions that grant technical degrees of 2 yr or less revealed that degree programs in dairy production remain popular, but have changed significantly over the last 25 yr. Enrollment in dairy production programs remains strong (1,189 and 417 students in baccalaureate and nonbaccalaureate degrees, respectively) even though this is viewed as a traditional industry. There are significant differences in size of programs across the United States, and some are struggling to maintain both the visibility and faculty numbers to keep pace with the industry. The percentage of students enrolled in 4-yr programs who are female has increased to the majority. More students hail from a nondairy farm background in our university programs today than in 1994. Computer and information technology has become a mainstream part of our educational programs. A high percentage of undergraduate students elect to engage in an internship or work experience, and there is a high correlation between internship and career paths selected by our students. The dairy industry initiated and financially supports the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge; an educational activity among university teams to foster skills in analyzing a dairy farm business. This collaboration between universities and private industry is strong evidence that our undergraduate programs are relevant to the dairy industry. Extracurricular activities like dairy science clubs also remain popular, and are perceived by faculty members to be an important part of our educational experience. An analysis of nonbaccalaureate degree programs was not reported previously, but was a part of the present survey. In the nonbaccalaureate institutions that responded to the survey, there were 417 students enrolled in 12 dairy programs across the United States in 2004. This student population in nonbaccalaureate programs has a higher percentage of female enrollment than in 1994, but enrollment is still predominantly male. Computer and information technologies are an important part of their curricula and a very high percentage of these students remain in production agriculture upon graduation. Many of the challenges in undergraduate education described previously continue to be challenges in 2005. However, there are many reasons for optimism; as the number of students electing enrollment in dairy production remains strong, there is great interest in keeping the curricula relevant and interaction with and support by the dairy industry continues to be significant.

e-ROSA - e-infrastructure Roadmap for Open Science in Agriculture has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730988.Disclaimer: The sole responsibility of the material published in this website lies with the authors. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.